Initramfs unpacking failed: read error

This afternoon I booted my computer and was greeted with a scary black screen with white text. These are the first few lines of it:

initramfs unpacking failed: read error
init[1]: segfault at 8 ip 00007fcfd222a7d7 sp 00007fff156c8810 error 4 in ld-linux-x86-64.so 2[herewentlotsofnumbers] likely on CPU 1 (core 1, socket 0)
code lots of numbers
Kernel panic -  not syncing: attempted to kill init! exitcode =000
CPU: 1 PID: 1 comm: init not tained
Hardware name: to e filled by O.E.M. To be filled by O.E.M /z370 Pro$. BIos p4.30 10/31/2019

Looking at the message it is talking about hardware (CPU), but I got an update prompt yesterday afternoon and I ran that, so I thought it might be related.

So I went and downloaded the latest Manjaro xfce Iso. When I booted there I got the option to select a two fallback options. One was with a 5. something kernel and the other was with a 4 something kernel, I think. As I had seen something about a problem with the a 5.something kernel I chose the 4.something version fallback and the system booted and loaded my desktop, but it seems to be an older version.

What should I do now to get back to the version I had yesterday?
On a side note, I do not think I was running the problematic Kernel as I had not updated the kernel in a while. I cannot remember which one it was, but I think it was the latest LTS kernel


Moderator edit: Removed useless, blurry photo

In the future, please use proper formatting: [HowTo] Post command output and file content as formatted text

Most likely it was 4.19 and 5.4? There was a change which defaults mkinitcpio to use zstd for compression. For these old kernel versions, you would need to explicitly configure, that it uses gzip instead, since zstd is only supported since 5.10.

In general:

  1. boot a live sessions
  2. chroot into the local installation
  3. edit /etc/mkinitcpio.conf and set COMPRESSION="gzip"
  4. Recreate the images: mkinitcpio -P

Or search the forum, there might be a better description.

This is for Arch.
But Manjaro built it’s own mkinitcpio that uses the default compression gzip.

Check Manjaro gitlab:

Alright. Thanks. Seems I missed that.

I found this post: How do i chroot into my system and update my kernel
That explains how to do chroot, but I run into issues.

When I boot from live usb:
Manjaro linux - goes to the same error screen
under Advanced options for Manjaro linux
- Kernel 6.1.41-1 goes to the same error
- Kernel 6.1.41-1 (fallback) returns error: file /boot/initramfs-6.1-x86_64-fallback-img not found
and the press any key to continue does not work.
kernel 4.19.289-1- lets me load, but when I run sudo manjaro-chroot -a returns command not found
kernel 4.19.289-1 (fallback) also lets me in but sudo manjaro-chroot -a returns command not found

Thats does not appear to be the live usb.

No need for sudo.

(and its not found because you arent in the live usb … otherwise it would be impossible to be booting ‘kernel 4.19’)

Oh, that makes sense, thank you.
So I finally I got on live usb.
And ran manjaro-chroot -a
and then mhwd-kernel --list and I got these to chose from:

  • linux419
  • linux510
  • linux515
  • linux54
  • linux61
  • linux64
  • linux65
  • linux61-rt
  • linux64-rt

Would the longterm: 6.1.45 be a good option to go for, and would it be possible, given when I tried to choose it earlier it reverted me to the initial?
initramfs error

6.1 is the latest LTS, but 6 also introduced a number of changes.
Try that or 5.15 (also LTS) to start with.

This is not going particularly well for me:

[manjaro /]# [ -f /var/lib/pacman/db.lck ] && rm -f /var/lib/pacman/db.lck
[manjaro /]# pacman -Syu
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 core.db failed to download
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db' from mirror.netcologne.de : Could not resolve host: mirror.netcologne.de
warning: too many errors from mirror.netcologne.de, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db' from mirrors.nic.cz : Could not resolve host: mirrors.nic.cz
warning: too many errors from mirrors.nic.cz, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db' from mirror.telepoint.bg : Could not resolve host: mirror.telepoint.bg
warning: too many errors from mirror.telepoint.bg, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db' from manjaro.astra.in.ua : Could not resolve host: manjaro.astra.in.ua
warning: too many errors from manjaro.astra.in.ua, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db' from mnvoip.mm.fcix.net : Could not resolve host: mnvoip.mm.fcix.net
warning: too many errors from mnvoip.mm.fcix.net, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db' from mirrors.sonic.net : Could not resolve host: mirrors.sonic.net
warning: too many errors from mirrors.sonic.net, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db' from mirrors.pku.edu.cn : Could not resolve host: mirrors.pku.edu.cn
warning: too many errors from mirrors.pku.edu.cn, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db' from free.nchc.org.tw : Could not resolve host: free.nchc.org.tw
warning: too many errors from free.nchc.org.tw, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed to synchronize all databases (invalid url for server)
[manjaro /]# mhwd-kernel -i linux515
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 core.db failed to download
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db' from mirror.netcologne.de : Could not resolve host: mirror.netcologne.de
warning: too many errors from mirror.netcologne.de, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db' from mirrors.nic.cz : Could not resolve host: mirrors.nic.cz
warning: too many errors from mirrors.nic.cz, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db' from mirror.telepoint.bg : Could not resolve host: mirror.telepoint.bg
warning: too many errors from mirror.telepoint.bg, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db' from manjaro.astra.in.ua : Could not resolve host: manjaro.astra.in.ua
warning: too many errors from manjaro.astra.in.ua, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db' from mnvoip.mm.fcix.net : Could not resolve host: mnvoip.mm.fcix.net
warning: too many errors from mnvoip.mm.fcix.net, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db' from mirrors.sonic.net : Could not resolve host: mirrors.sonic.net
warning: too many errors from mirrors.sonic.net, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db' from mirrors.pku.edu.cn : Could not resolve host: mirrors.pku.edu.cn
warning: too many errors from mirrors.pku.edu.cn, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'core.db' from free.nchc.org.tw : Could not resolve host: free.nchc.org.tw
warning: too many errors from free.nchc.org.tw, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed to synchronize all databases (invalid url for server)
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...

Packages (2) linux515-5.15.125-1  linux515-virtualbox-host-modules-7.0.10-7

Total Download Size:   100.29 MiB
Total Installed Size:  104.80 MiB

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] y
:: Retrieving packages...
 linux515-5.15.125-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst failed to download
 Total (1/2)           100.3 MiB  9.79 GiB/s 00:00 [######################] 100%
error: failed retrieving file 'linux515-5.15.125-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst' from mirror.netcologne.de : Could not resolve host: mirror.netcologne.de
warning: too many errors from mirror.netcologne.de, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'linux515-5.15.125-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst' from mirrors.nic.cz : Could not resolve host: mirrors.nic.cz
warning: too many errors from mirrors.nic.cz, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'linux515-5.15.125-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst' from mirror.telepoint.bg : Could not resolve host: mirror.telepoint.bg
warning: too many errors from mirror.telepoint.bg, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'linux515-5.15.125-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst' from manjaro.astra.in.ua : Could not resolve host: manjaro.astra.in.ua
warning: too many errors from manjaro.astra.in.ua, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'linux515-5.15.125-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst' from mnvoip.mm.fcix.net : Could not resolve host: mnvoip.mm.fcix.net
warning: too many errors from mnvoip.mm.fcix.net, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'linux515-5.15.125-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst' from mirrors.sonic.net : Could not resolve host: mirrors.sonic.net
warning: too many errors from mirrors.sonic.net, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'linux515-5.15.125-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst' from mirrors.pku.edu.cn : Could not resolve host: mirrors.pku.edu.cn
warning: too many errors from mirrors.pku.edu.cn, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
error: failed retrieving file 'linux515-5.15.125-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst' from free.nchc.org.tw : Could not resolve host: free.nchc.org.tw
warning: too many errors from free.nchc.org.tw, skipping for the remainder of this transaction
warning: failed to retrieve some files
error: failed to commit transaction (invalid url for server)
Errors occurred, no packages were upgraded.
[manjaro /]#

I saw a few suggestions in this post: Initramfs unpacking failed: invalid magic as start of compressed - #28 by sire

You need to chroot to your broken system with live USB stick, then edit /etc/mkinitpcio.conf to change the compression to gzip, then run mkinitcpio -P && update-grub, then reboot

And then Zesko saying that one can just update mkinitcpio
If I update mkinitcpio to the latest version while on chroot, do you think that would solve the issue?

Its the mirrors.
(or your network connection in general)
You may try resetting and sorting them:

sudo pacman-mirrors -c all
sudo pacman -Syu

My network is good, optic fiber and quite fast, so I dont think that is the problem.
I tried sudo pacman-mirrors -c all
but got lots of errors again.
I dont know what to do next.
If I manage to log in fallback mode again, could I upgrade this mkinitcpio from there?

Some is acceptable, maybe even expected, when going through all mirrors globally …
But I am not sure because I dont know the errors exactly.
The point is you want a good working mirror.
(and so far it does not appear that you do)

This is so weird. I used the same live usb that I created to try to sort this issue to install Manjaro XCFE on an old laptop and on that laptop I am able to run updates with no problem

Then your network connection is not as good as you think it is.

Perhaps it’s just an issue with the DNS server (likely you use the one your provider “gives” you).

Try another DNS server, perhaps?

I have logged back in to my system using the option of kernel 4.19.289-1
Some of the software I use for work does not load, so somehow I need to fix this.
I took a look at the latest updates and it seems mkinitcpio was upgraded from version 3 to version 4. Perhaps I should try to roll back that one?

What came through was this:

[2023-08-11T21:15:30+0200] [ALPM] upgraded zsh-history-substring-search (1.0.2-2 -> 1.1.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:30+0200] [ALPM] upgraded xfsprogs (6.3.0-2 -> 6.4.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:30+0200] [ALPM] upgraded xfce4-clipman-plugin (1.6.3-1 -> 1.6.4-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:30+0200] [ALPM] upgraded webkit2gtk-4.1 (2.40.4-1 -> 2.40.5-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:30+0200] [ALPM] upgraded webkit2gtk (2.40.4-1 -> 2.40.5-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:29+0200] [ALPM] upgraded vulkan-intel (23.0.4-3 -> 23.1.5-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:29+0200] [ALPM] upgraded unrar (1:6.2.9-1 -> 1:6.2.10-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:29+0200] [ALPM] upgraded timeshift (23.07.1-1 -> 23.07.1-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:29+0200] [ALPM] upgraded thunderbird (115.0.1-1 -> 115.1.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:29+0200] [ALPM] upgraded telegram-desktop (4.8.7-2 -> 4.8.10-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:29+0200] [ALPM] upgraded xxhash (0.8.1-4 -> 0.8.2-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:29+0200] [ALPM] upgraded sudo (1.9.14.p2-1 -> 1.9.14.p3-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:29+0200] [ALPM] upgraded squashfuse (0.2.0-1 -> 0.4.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:29+0200] [ALPM] upgraded python-yaml (6.0-3 -> 6.0.1-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:29+0200] [ALPM] upgraded python-trove-classifiers (2023.7.6-1 -> 2023.8.7-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:29+0200] [ALPM] upgraded python-pip (23.1.2-1 -> 23.2.1-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded python-pikepdf (8.2.1-1 -> 8.2.3-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded python-more-itertools (9.1.1-4 -> 10.0.1-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded python-jsonschema (4.18.3-1 -> 4.18.4-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded python-jsonschema-specifications (2023.06.1-1 -> 2023.7.1-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded python-referencing (0.29.1-1 -> 0.30.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded python-rpds-py (0.8.8-1 -> 0.9.2-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded python-inflect (6.1.0-1 -> 7.0.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded pyside6 (6.5.1.1-4 -> 6.5.2-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded shiboken6 (6.5.1.1-4 -> 6.5.2-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded pidgin (2.14.12-1 -> 2.14.12-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-xml-libxml (2.0208-1 -> 2.0209-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-parse-yapp (1.21-5 -> 1.21-6)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-ipc-run3 (0.048-10 -> 0.048-11)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-file-mimeinfo (0.33-1 -> 0.33-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-file-desktopentry (0.22-10 -> 0.22-11)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-file-basedir (0.09-2 -> 0.09-3)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-ipc-system-simple (1.30-4 -> 1.30-5)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-dbi (1.643-4 -> 1.643-6)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-alien-libxml2 (0.19-1 -> 0.19-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-alien-build (2.80-1 -> 2.80-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-path-tiny (0.144-1 -> 0.144-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-file-which (1.27-2 -> 1.27-3)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-file-chdir (0.1011-4 -> 0.1011-5)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-ffi-checklib (0.31-2 -> 0.31-3)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-capture-tiny (0.48-6 -> 0.48-7)
[2023-08-11T21:15:28+0200] [ALPM] upgraded papirus-icon-theme (20230601-1 -> 20230801-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:20+0200] [ALPM] upgraded pamac-gtk (11.0.1-2 -> 11.6.0-0.1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:20+0200] [ALPM] upgraded pamac-cli (11.0.0-2 -> 11.6.0-0.1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:20+0200] [ALPM] upgraded opera (100.0.4815.76-1 -> 101.0.4843.33-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded opencolorio (2.2.1-10 -> 2.2.1-11)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded net-snmp (5.9.1-6 -> 5.9.1-7)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded minizip-ng (4.0.0-2 -> 4.0.1-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded mhwd-nvidia (535.86.05-1 -> 535.98-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded mhwd-nvidia-470xx (470.199.02-2 -> 470.199.02-3)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-xml-writer (0.900-1 -> 0.900-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-xml-parser (2.46-4 -> 2.46-5)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-libwww (6.67-1 -> 6.67-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-www-robotrules (6.02-11 -> 6.02-12)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-try-tiny (0.31-2 -> 0.31-3)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-net-http (6.23-1 -> 6.23-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-http-negotiate (6.01-11 -> 6.01-12)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-http-daemon (6.16-1 -> 6.16-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-http-cookies (6.10-3 -> 6.10-4)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-html-parser (3.81-1 -> 3.81-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-http-message (6.44-1 -> 6.44-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-lwp-mediatypes (6.04-3 -> 6.04-4)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-io-html (1.004-3 -> 1.004-4)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-clone (0.46-1 -> 0.46-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-html-tagset (3.20-13 -> 3.20-14)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-file-listing (6.15-2 -> 6.16-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-http-date (6.05-6 -> 6.06-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-uri (5.19-1 -> 5.19-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-encode-locale (1.05-10 -> 1.05-11)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded mesa-vdpau (23.0.4-3 -> 23.1.5-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded mbedtls (3.4.0-3 -> 3.4.1-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lvm2 (2.03.21-1 -> 2.03.22-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded thin-provisioning-tools (1.0.4-1 -> 1.0.5-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:19+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lsb-release (2.0.r48.3cf5103-1 -> 2.0.r53.a86f885-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:18+0200] [ALPM] upgraded linux61-virtualbox-host-modules (7.0.10-4 -> 7.0.10-8)
[2023-08-11T21:15:18+0200] [ALPM] upgraded linux61 (6.1.41-1 -> 6.1.44-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:12+0200] [ALPM] upgraded linux419-virtualbox-host-modules (7.0.10-2 -> 7.0.10-5)
[2023-08-11T21:15:12+0200] [ALPM] upgraded linux419 (4.19.289-1 -> 4.19.290-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:11+0200] [ALPM] upgraded mkinitcpio (36-3 -> 36-4)
[2023-08-11T21:15:11+0200] [ALPM] upgraded linux-firmware (20230724.59fbffa9-1 -> 20230810.7be2766d-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:06+0200] [ALPM] upgraded linux-firmware-whence (20230724.59fbffa9-1 -> 20230810.7be2766d-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:06+0200] [ALPM] upgraded licenses (20220125-2 -> 20230729-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:06+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libva-mesa-driver (23.0.4-3 -> 23.1.5-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:06+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libpurple (2.14.12-1 -> 2.14.12-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:06+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libplacebo (5.264.1-1 -> 5.264.1-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:06+0200] [ALPM] upgraded shaderc (2023.3-1 -> 2023.4-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:06+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libpamac-snap-plugin (11.5.7-2 -> 11.6.0-0.3)
[2023-08-11T21:15:06+0200] [ALPM] upgraded snapd (2.60.1-1 -> 2.60.2-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libpamac-flatpak-plugin (11.5.7-2 -> 11.6.0-0.3)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded pipewire (1:0.3.75-2 -> 1:0.3.77-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libpipewire (1:0.3.75-2 -> 1:0.3.77-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded xdg-dbus-proxy (0.1.4-1 -> 0.1.5-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libpamac (11.5.7-2 -> 11.6.0-0.3)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded python-chardet (5.1.0-3 -> 5.2.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libopenraw (0.3.6-1 -> 0.3.7-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libimagequant (4.1.1-1 -> 4.2.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libgit2 (1:1.6.4-1 -> 1:1.7.0-3)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libgexiv2 (0.14.1-1 -> 0.14.2-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libcamera (0.0.5-1 -> 0.1.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libcamera-ipa (0.0.5-1 -> 0.1.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libadwaita (1:1.3.3-1 -> 1:1.3.4-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-vulkan-radeon (23.0.4-3 -> 23.1.5-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded vulkan-radeon (23.0.4-3 -> 23.1.5-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-vulkan-intel (23.0.4-3 -> 23.1.5-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-sdl2 (2.28.1-1 -> 2.28.2-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-mesa-vdpau (23.0.4-3 -> 23.1.5-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-libva-mesa-driver (23.0.4-3 -> 23.1.5-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-libva (2.18.0-1 -> 2.19.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-mesa (23.0.4-3 -> 23.1.5-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:05+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-llvm-libs (15.0.7-1 -> 15.0.7-3)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-xz (5.4.3-1 -> 5.4.4-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-libjpeg-turbo (2.1.5.1-1 -> 3.0.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-harfbuzz (8.0.1-1 -> 8.1.1-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-curl (8.2.0-1 -> 8.2.1-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lensfun (1:0.3.4-2 -> 1:0.3.4-3)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded kwallet (5.108.0-1 -> 5.108.0-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded qt5-base (5.15.10+kde+r135-1 -> 5.15.10+kde+r147-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded intel-ucode (20230613-1 -> 20230808-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded imagemagick (7.1.1.14-1 -> 7.1.1.15-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded hexchat (2.16.1-4 -> 2.16.1-5)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded harfbuzz-icu (8.0.1-1 -> 8.1.1-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gvfs-smb (1.50.5-1 -> 1.50.6-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gvfs-nfs (1.50.5-1 -> 1.50.6-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gvfs-mtp (1.50.5-1 -> 1.50.6-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gvfs-gphoto2 (1.50.5-1 -> 1.50.6-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gvfs-afc (1.50.5-1 -> 1.50.6-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gvfs (1.50.5-1 -> 1.50.6-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-libldap (2.6.4-1 -> 2.6.6-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-openssl (1:3.1.1-1 -> 1:3.1.2-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-gcc-libs (13.1.1-2 -> 13.2.1-3)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-glibc (2.37-3 -> 2.38-2.0)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded polkit (122-1 -> 123-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libarchive (3.7.0-2 -> 3.7.1-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:04+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gtkmm3 (3.24.7-1 -> 3.24.8-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:03+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gtk4 (1:4.10.4-1 -> 1:4.10.5-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:03+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gupnp (1:1.6.4-1 -> 1:1.6.5-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:03+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gspell (1.12.1-2 -> 1.12.2-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:03+0200] [ALPM] upgraded graphviz (8.0.5-2 -> 8.1.0-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:03+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libtool (2.4.7+4+g1ec8fa28-4 -> 2.4.7+4+g1ec8fa28-6)
[2023-08-11T21:15:03+0200] [ALPM] upgraded tar (1.34-2 -> 1.35-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:03+0200] [ALPM] upgraded glslang (12.2.0-1 -> 12.3.1-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:03+0200] [ALPM] upgraded git (2.41.0-1 -> 2.41.0-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:03+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-mailtools (2.21-6 -> 2.21-7)
[2023-08-11T21:15:03+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-timedate (2.33-4 -> 2.33-5)
[2023-08-11T21:15:03+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl-error (0.17029-4 -> 0.17029-5)
[2023-08-11T21:15:03+0200] [ALPM] upgraded perl (5.36.1-2 -> 5.38.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:03+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gcc (13.1.1-2 -> 13.2.1-3)
[2023-08-11T21:15:02+0200] [ALPM] upgraded fuse3 (3.15.1-1 -> 3.16.1-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:02+0200] [ALPM] upgraded fuse-common (3.15.1-1 -> 3.16.1-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:02+0200] [ALPM] upgraded firefox (116.0-1 -> 116.0.2-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:01+0200] [ALPM] upgraded openexr (3.1.9-1 -> 3.1.10-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:01+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libmfx (23.2.2-1 -> 23.2.2-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:01+0200] [ALPM] upgraded noto-fonts (1:23.7.1-1 -> 1:23.8.1-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:01+0200] [ALPM] upgraded nss (3.91-1 -> 3.92-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:01+0200] [ALPM] upgraded enchant (2.3.4-2 -> 2.5.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:01+0200] [ALPM] upgraded emacs (28.2-2 -> 29.1-4)
[2023-08-11T21:15:01+0200] [ALPM] installed tree-sitter (0.20.10-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:01+0200] [ALPM] upgraded elfutils (0.189-1 -> 0.189-3)
[2023-08-11T21:15:01+0200] [ALPM] upgraded dhcpcd (10.0.1-1 -> 10.0.2-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:01+0200] [ALPM] upgraded cpupower (6.3-2 -> 6.3-4)
[2023-08-11T21:15:01+0200] [ALPM] upgraded catfish (4.16.4-3 -> 4.18.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:01+0200] [ALPM] upgraded xfconf (4.18.1-1 -> 4.18.1-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:00+0200] [ALPM] upgraded python-cairo (1.23.0-6 -> 1.24.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:00+0200] [ALPM] upgraded btrfs-progs (6.3.2-1 -> 6.3.3-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:00+0200] [ALPM] upgraded binutils (2.40-6 -> 2.41-3)
[2023-08-11T21:15:00+0200] [ALPM] upgraded audacity (1:3.3.2-1 -> 1:3.3.3-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:00+0200] [ALPM] upgraded sdl2 (2.28.1-1 -> 2.28.2-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:00+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libproxy (0.5.3-1 -> 0.5.3-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:00+0200] [ALPM] upgraded mesa (23.0.4-3 -> 23.1.5-2)
[2023-08-11T21:15:00+0200] [ALPM] upgraded device-mapper (2.03.21-1 -> 2.03.22-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:00+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gtk-update-icon-cache (1:4.10.4-1 -> 1:4.10.5-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:00+0200] [ALPM] upgraded harfbuzz (8.0.1-1 -> 8.1.1-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:00+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libsysprof-capture (3.48.0-2 -> 3.48.0-4)
[2023-08-11T21:15:00+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libjpeg-turbo (2.1.5.1-1 -> 3.0.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:15:00+0200] [ALPM] upgraded arm-none-eabi-gcc (13.1.0-1 -> 13.2.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:14:57+0200] [ALPM] upgraded mpfr (4.2.0.p12-1 -> 4.2.0.p12-3)
[2023-08-11T21:14:57+0200] [ALPM] upgraded arm-none-eabi-binutils (2.40-1 -> 2.41-1)
[2023-08-11T21:14:57+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libelf (0.189-1 -> 0.189-3)
[2023-08-11T21:14:57+0200] [ALPM] upgraded curl (8.2.0-2 -> 8.2.1-1)
[2023-08-11T21:14:57+0200] [ALPM] upgraded ca-certificates-mozilla (3.91-1 -> 3.92-1)
[2023-08-11T21:14:57+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gmp (6.2.1-2 -> 6.3.0-1)
[2023-08-11T21:14:57+0200] [ALPM] upgraded xz (5.4.3-1 -> 5.4.4-1)
[2023-08-11T21:14:57+0200] [ALPM] upgraded apparmor (3.1.6-1 -> 3.1.6-2)
[2023-08-11T21:14:56+0200] [ALPM] upgraded libldap (2.6.4-2 -> 2.6.6-1)
[2023-08-11T21:14:56+0200] [ALPM] upgraded openssl (3.1.1-1 -> 3.1.2-1)
[2023-08-11T21:14:56+0200] [ALPM] upgraded abseil-cpp (20230125.3-1 -> 20230125.3-2)
[2023-08-11T21:14:56+0200] [ALPM] upgraded gcc-libs (13.1.1-2 -> 13.2.1-3)
[2023-08-11T21:14:53+0200] [ALPM] upgraded glibc (2.37-3 -> 2.38-2.0)
[2023-08-11T21:14:53+0200] [ALPM] upgraded linux-api-headers (6.3-1 -> 6.4-1)
[2023-08-11T08:14:14+0200] [ALPM] upgraded spectre-meltdown-checker (0.46+7+g8ba3751-1 -> 0.46+10+gc1c1ac4-1)

Then I took a look I also checked the mkinitcpio.conf and it has this:

# COMPRESSION
# Use this to compress the initramfs image. **By default, gzip compression**
# is used. Use 'cat' to create an uncompressed image.
#COMPRESSION="gzip"
#COMPRESSION="bzip2"
#COMPRESSION="lzma"
#COMPRESSION="xz"
#COMPRESSION="lzop"
#COMPRESSION="lz4"
#COMPRESSION="zstd"

I have also found that the kernel I was running was 6.1.31

I could run a clean reinstall of it all, but I would try to avoid it as it will take me a couple of days probably to get it configured back again

Does this mean you were able to update?

Did you sort mirrors?

sudo pacman-mirrors -c all
sudo pacman -Syu

You may set the compression using mkinitcpio.conf as you see.

Did you still want to install a newer kernel?

sudo mhwd-kernel -i linux61

In whatever case, after you have made any adjustments, and/or updated, etc…

sudo mkinitcpio -P
sudo update-grub

No, finally I just logged out of live USB and logged in under Advanced options for Manjaro Linux (as I did earlier), then there I selected the lower kernel.
The mirror issue I only had on the Live USB, weirdly enough. If I log in with this lower kernel I can run that command without errors

Would it make any difference to change the mkinitcpio.conf file if the default is already set to the correct one?
And yes I think I will go back to a newer kernel, but I not sure which one to pick and if it was 6.1.31 that created issues

I dont think so.
You had a number of issues, including out of date configurations leading to incompatible options with the kernels, while you were also either out of date or in a partial upgrade state.

Make sure you are fully up to date and try installing a kernel again.
5.15, 6.1, 6.4 are your options … 5.10 if none of those work.

I installed 5.15 and rebooted, but the system now boots automatically with 4.19.
6.1.44 was installed too. I thought the newer versions would be picked automatically.

The system loads, but I cannot run Slack for instance. It does not load. It is a snap installation and if I try to run it from terminal I get cannot attach cgroup program: Operation not permitted

And I never postpone an update prompt more than a day. I will run them after work (I usually use Pamac), so I thought the system was up to date.

I dont know much about SNAP…
But is snapd running?

systemctl status snapd

And … are the snaps updated?

snap refresh

It being snap and all … theres not usually much the distro can do besides allow snap … after that, assuming its working, its up to the snap maintainer.